Luna

• 36 •

Three Days

Returning to Sam's house and discussing the plan amongst everyone caused a breakout in stress. The pack had broken off in factions, each different group talking about various plans. Despite their need for preparedness, I could also hear the whispers of panic and fear that they couldn't protect everyone in town.

I disassociated from the conversations, turning to lay down on the couch. It wasn't long before Paul found me and came to my side. He sat sideways against the couch, adjusting the two of us so that my body was between his legs with my head in his lap.

His stance, even when sitting, was rigid- he was not at all hiding the enormous amount of stress that had been burdening him for months.

The pack had rejoined up, Sam and Paul addressing everyone on how the pack was to proceed in terms of patrols. I had frugally attempted to stay awake, but the lull of sleep in Paul's arms was too comforting to resist. 

Paul had woken me up what seemed like minutes later, but in truth was hours. He again offered me the chance to stay behind with Emily and Kim, but I refused, wanting to make the same sacrifices the pack had to make for me. 

The pack decided to travel in cars, Paul, Cole, Leah and I were in his Jeep while the rest of pack was divided between 2 other cars.

The Cullens had chosen a remote part of the forest to hold this meeting, it was pretty far north of La Push, but considering the fact it was nearing four a.m, there was absolutely no traffic. 

We arrived fairly quickly, just in time to see the end of a seemingly unfair fight between Jasper and Emmett. Jasper had pushed Emmett back with such a force that Emmett flew back twenty feet mid air before crashing into the loose dirt of the forest. 

His shirt was coated in varying levels of mud and moss, but that was of little importance to the large vampire as he charged towards his brother with newfound determination. 

Our arrival caused the situation to defuse as the Cullens watched us with- what seemed like- surprise. Were they shocked the pack had come? 

The Cullens had chosen their training area to be situated at the base of a gentle slope. Uprooted tree stumps and roots caused the terrain to be somewhat difficult to walk through- or perhaps only difficult to me because I'm human. 

As the packed filtered in on one side, Paul helped me down much of the way. Eventually, he dropped his hand from my grasp, implying for me to stay towards the middle of the hill.

Easily, I understood what he meant by this gesture and gave him a confirming nod. Paul, Sam and Jacob were to go to the front of the group to converse with the Cullens, as they were the three heads of this pack now. 

Since Jared and Jacob switched ranking, there has surprisingly been little to no animosity amongst the group. Jared was all but willing to go to a lower rank at the prospect of having more free time with Kim. 

Jacob was also craving a role of higher authority. This makes sense when understanding the blood line of Jacob, Cole and me; our great grandfather was Ephraim Black, the previous pack chief. Surprisingly though, Cole had no desire to move up in the ranks to which I attribute that to Leah's fulfilling presence in his life. 

So while I hung back from Paul, Leah gave me a small smile and stood to my right hand side, with Cole besides her; on my other side was Jared.

"Thank you for coming," Carlisle greeted warmly towards Sam. 

"I appreciate that you extended this offer to us, however, we only wish to observe -" Sam continued on as I gazed away. 

Looking amongst the Cullens, I found Bella standing off to the side, looking perturbed. Her pure emotions didn't last long as Alice flitted over and gave Bella a smile and restraining arm link.